


Hidden

by Amancham-EN (Amancham)



Category: Leverage
Genre: Community: comment_fic, Drama, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-03
Updated: 2012-02-03
Packaged: 2017-10-30 15:38:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/333316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amancham/pseuds/Amancham-EN
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He can't afford the team to see his pain. It's too dangerous. So Eliot hides. He hides behind a mask of annyoance, arrogance and aggression. All of it to hide his pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hidden

**Author's Note:**

> Original Post: http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/166277.html?thread=36034181#t36034181
> 
> prompt:  
> Leverage, Eliot+team, hiding his injuries

He doesn't mind the fighting. It's his job to protect the others, to fight for them, to make sure the bad guys don't hurt his friends, his family. He's the muscle and he's fine with it. But he sure hates when he comes out of a fight injured. Injured in a way he can't hide. They don't know. Normally he looks alright. He doesn't act on the pain, just bites his teeth and gets on with life, with business. The split lip he got this time, however, is something the others will see.  
  
Eliot cocks his head when he hears steps approaching.  
  
"You alright?" Nates voice is quiet. Either he expects another bad guy lurking around the corner or he tries to hide his concern for Eliot's wellbeing from the rest of the team.  
  
"Perfect" Eliot replies and shrugs his shoulders, licking the blood off his lips, stepping over the unconscious man lying at his feet.  
  
Nate nods and walks on, past him, towards the door. Parker pokes him in the side when she passes him and sure enough she finds the perfect spot for it, too. A cracked rib replies to the soft poke with soaring pain shooting through his body. It takes a lot of his strength to not twitch or even hit her. Eliot stares at her coldly and puts on the annoyed mask he always wears in a situation like that. But Parker doesn't mind his angry face at all.  
  
It's not like they wouldn't care. It's more like he doesn't want them to know. He's supposed to be the strong one, invincible. He needs to be, to keep them safe. So he hides the pain he feels.  
  
In the evening, after the job, after a cool drink in the bar, Eliot finds himself in his bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror. His shoulder is a little stiff and there's still a soft shade of blue lingering there after more than a week. A nasty shade of black and blue covers his left side. Carefully his fingertips wander along the ribs covered by the massive bruise, testing how much damage his enemy managed to inflict before he stopped him. One rib sure is cracked, but he had worse. There are a couple more bruises on his skin. He wouldn't wear shorts or a t-shirt anytime soon. To make sure they don't see them.  
  
Eliot carefully takes off his shoes and removes the bandage from his ankle. It's still swollen. He shakes his head and smiles at his reflection, softly.  
  
"It's alright", he murmurs. "Gonna be alright tomorrow."  
  
The tension leaves his body. The mask of annoyance and boredom, he so often wears, slides from his face and reveals pain. He slouches his shoulders, his body almost going limp. Eliot somehow manages to sit down on the edge of the bath tub when the pain almost overwhelms him. He leans against the cold wall and takes a few shallow breaths before fixing himself up. There is no one to help him, no one to comfort him in his pain. It was his choice, but sometimes he regrets it. Sometimes he wonders if he should just stop playing the strong one and actually let the others know how often he gets hurt on the job.  
  
Finally Eliot crawls into bed, curls up under the blanket. He knows he won't catch much sleep this night. But he has to try anyway.  
  
~*~  
  
Eliot doesn't know the others know about it. He doesn't know that they know him too well, that he cannot hide his pain completely. He is also unaware of the problem his friends are facing: They don't dare to say anything about it, afraid it might set him off like a bomb if they try to comfort him. Eliot, very successfully, produces the image that he is untouchable. So no matter how much they want to comfort him, they don't dare. They have to wait until one day Eliot gets hurt bad enough so he can't just get up and walk away anymore. Until he has to let them help him. But until then they keep quiet about it and their faces only show concern when he can't see it. Otherwise they hide what they feel.


End file.
